Former Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse scored two goals to lead Shandong Luneng in a 2-0 win over Changchun Yatai in a Chinese Super League (CSL) match at the Arena Development Stadium on Sunday.
It was Shandong Luneng's third win in a row and placed them at level with Guangzhou R&F, who defeated Yanbian Funde, 1-0, on Saturday.
Cisse, a Senegalese who attracted the interest of several CSL teams last year, scored in the 59th minute and in the 81st minute. He teamed up with ex-Southampton striker Graziano Pelle in attacking Changchun Yatai's goal.
Shandong Luneng coach Felix Magath praised Pelle for creating openings for Cisse's goals.
It was the third straight defeat in the China Super League for Changchun Yatai, who is now in the bottom of the 16-team league.
Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo was in action for 90 minutes for Changchun Yatai but again failed to score.
Since joining Changchun from Watford in the January transfer window, Ighalo is yet to score.
Meanwhile, Ighalo's compatriot Anthony Ujah, a former Werder Bremen, scored the second goal for Liaoning Hongyun in their 3-1 win over Jiangsu Suning also on Sunday.
Ujah goal came in the 69th minute to make it 2-1 for Liaoning Hongyun, who hosted the game.
James Chamanga was the first to score for Liaoning Hongyun in the 30th minute via a penalty before Suning equalized the score eight minutes later.
Yu Yang made the third goal that made it 3-1 for Liaoning Hongyun in the 87th minute to seal the victory.
Shanghai Shenhua missed their chance to climb into third place when they were beaten 2-1 by Beijing Guoan.
Burak Yilmaz scored twice to lead Beijing Guoan in defeating Shanghai Shenhua, 2-1. Yilmaz's first goal came in the 37th minute before Cao Yunding leveled the score three minutes later.
A second goal by Yilmaz gave Beijing its first victory of the season.